We're sold

Okay, we admit it. We've been skeptical about a lot of things during this winning streak. But we're ready to embrace the various issues surrounding this team that we've previously been skeptical about. They've managed to restore our (and apparently their own) confidence.

Cairo at 1B? No problem. His glove has been sharper than sharp. Play him there the rest of the season, who cares if his OPS (.587) is almost 70 points lower than A-Rod's SLG % (.675). He's been a better fielder than Mientkeiwicz so far.

Mike Mussina over the hill? Apparently not yet. Another stellar performance last night (7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) has us wondering why we ever doubted the fact that he'd come around. Tara Sullivan nicely describes how Mussina is doing just fine, after all. Sullivan's headline writer, however, is not doing as well - the headline reads "Rivera" instead of "Mussina". Vic Ziegel has a terrific piece where he tries to describe the reasons for Moose's sudden turnaround.

Cabrera in CF everyday with Damon as the DH? Sure, why not? Last night reminded us how Johnny's defense in center just isn't what it used to be. It's not his fault, really - he's constantly hobbled by something. Those injures have cramped his style, and he simply doesn't have the range the Melky has.

We'd add Abreu to the list of issues we doubted, but truth be told, we always thought he'd come around.

Torre's use of the bullpen? Well, wait - let's not get ahead of ourselves. Was there really any major reason to bring in Myers in the 9th inning last night? Couldn't Bruney have pitched out of whatever jam he was in? Even if he gives up a three-run HR, he'd still have had a two-run cushion to work with. And was it really necessary to put added stress on Mariano's arm by having him start to throw? It's hard to second guess, as bringing in Myers worked like a charm. But we wanted to see Bruney try and work out of it.

Please keep in mind that we're being sardonic here by saying all of the above issues are no longer issues. Obviously, the Yanks can't survive the long haul with a powerless first baseman that hits below .250. And it's certainly debatable as to whether Melky is really worthy of a starting spot every day. All we're saying is that this winning streak has helped mask all of these issues.

Afternoon game today, 1:05 PM. Doug Davis (4-7, 3.48) tries to derail the runaway train that is the Yankees these days. Andy Pettitte (3-4, 3.11) goes for the Yanks.

In other news...

First, the mea culpa... Please accept our apologies, Mr. Chien-Ming Wang, for mentioning your streak of innings without giving up a HR before your start the other day. We're sorry we were the cause of you serving one up. (Thanks to reader Barb27 for commenting and reminding us that the HR was our fault.)

We tend to think most team meetings are more style than substance. Judging from Lisa Kennelly's piece in the Star-Ledger today, maybe this last one was different. Ron Villone, a veteran who has been in on a lot of team meetings over the years, said, "All the teams I've been through, anywhere, I've never had a meeting like that before."

It was nice to see Matsui's shot last night. The Post has a report on Matsui's interleague greatness, informing us that coming into last night Matsui "owned the highest interleague batting average among players with at least 200 at-bats." His 2-for-3 last night will only improve that average.

We can't say much more about what Jorge has done this season than we already have. Instead, we'll leave that to today's Daily News headline, Posada Power.

Larry Brooks has an ode to A-Rod's greatness in today's Post. He jokingly compares A-Rod's "Ha!" to Joe DiMaggio's "I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee." Pretty funny stuff.

The Yanks aren't exactly missing Jason Giambi's bat these days. But we're sure the team would rather not see him suspended by Bud Selig for not cooperating with Senator Mitchell's steroid investigation. Does the commissioner really have a leg to stand on here, threatening a suspension? Wouldn't the Players Association have a major problem with such a move?

By the way, so much for that completely blown-out-of-proportion clause in Clemens' contract that allows him to go home between starts. As Kat O'Brien notes, he's been hanging out with the guys ever since he arrived. We're not saying he won't take advantage of the clause from time to time, but he's clearly not abusing the privilege.